Tag Archives: Curious Souls

Post navigation

Please press the FOLLOW button at the bottom of this page, if you would like to be a part of this group and join us in our meetings!

Dear Friends,

On the evening of November 30,2016, we met at the beautiful Nola Restaurant, in Galata Istanbul. The weather was cold and gloomy so I did not expect many to show up but contrary to what I expected, we were a nice group of approximately 25 Curious Souls!

We first had some free time to catch up with friends and meet with the ones who were there for the first time.

Later we started watching the first TED Talk that I selected for our group. It was a talk of Graham Shaw who asked the question “Why is it that so many people think they can’t draw? Where did we learn to believe that?.”

In this talk Shaw explains that drawing can be very simple and he guides everyone to draw cartoons speedily. While watching the talk, we had paper and pens ready and our group followed Shaw’s guidelines! Outcome was surprising! Almost everybody drew fantastic cartoons and some of them even looked quite professional to me :-)).

At the end of the talk, Shaw explains how a simple act of drawing can have the power to make a positive difference in the world and asks us to consider how many other beliefs we have about our incapabilities can be shattered if we only try.

Our discussion on this subject was moderated by Ms.Eda Altan, who asked us wonderful and clever questions that spiced up our discussions. I would like to thank her for her contribution! We had a lively discussion! She even brought a beautiful Picasso painting that she drew some while ago, when she was inspired to challenge her belief that she could not draw anything except for stick figures! In fact, she said, it was quite surprising for her to realise that she could draw!

I wonder, whether this talk inspired anybody in our group to challenge their limiting beliefs about their capabilities or not? It inspired me a few!

The second talk we watched was another interesting talk by a man called Michael Roach, who, while studying at Princeton university, went to a Budist monestry in Tibet and stayed there for 25 years. He was then sent back to New York by the monks, as a test, and was asked to form a diamond business and earn 1 million dollars in one year. He only had 7 dollars in his pocket. The monks wanted to see whether he learned the things they taught. Roach not only made 1 million dollars but also sold his company to Warren Buffet for 250 million dollars a couple of years later. In light of this experience, Roach says that it is possible to realise any wish, if you follow a precise 4 step formula! I suggest that you watch this talk to discover about this formula and share your views with me; do you agree or not?

You can guess easily that our discussion on this subject was also very interesting! Some expressed the view that they believed in his formula and wanted to give it a try, and some said that he was already an exceptionally clever person with the right resources and it was not the formula but his personnality that created the success. In any case, it was interesting to be informed of such a formula that has positive effects on people, and, who knows, that may even be true!

After this second talk, we ended our discussions there; yet we continued the evening with some more chat before leaving! It was nice to note once more that at the end of each Curious Souls’ meeting, everybody connects, even thought they maybe from different countries and different backgrounds!

Thank you, dear participants, for joining me at this event and I wish you all wonderful days, until we meet again!

I would like to invite you to do Zhineng Qigong with me. We can meet at the green picnic area in front of Vakıf Tenis Cafe (next to Zanzibar Cafe) on the Caddebostan shoreway. Please bring something to spread on the grass to sit on. You may need it. After qigong, we can grab some food and drinks at the tennis cafe and catch up.

As you may know by now, Zhineng Qigong is a moving type of meditation, very similar to Tai Chi-but with slower movements. It has incredible, almost miraculous health benefits as well as benefits that provide sharp mental focus. Correct mental state and correct imagination during movements is more important than the movements themselves. So I will be guiding you along on how to have to get the right state of mind and posture

If this sounds appealing to you, please do join.

Have a great time until then and see you on Sunday!

Best regards
Isil the Curious Soul 🙂

STARTS : October 16, 2016, Sunday 10:30ENDS : no specific timeLOCATION : Picnic area in front of Vakif Tenis Cafe on Caddebostan shoreway – IstanbulMEETING POINT : At the picnic area FEE : Free of charge

We met this morning at 10:30 a.m. at Caddebostan shoreway. I proposed to teach Zhineng Qigong to anybody who would be interested. Yet it was a last minute announcement so I did not expect a lot of participation. To my surprise, many people showed up. It was fantastic.

Zhineng Qigong is a moving type of meditation that has lots of health benefits. I discovered it last year in May while I was researching NLP and hypnosis techniques to help a relative that was diagnosed with cancer. In one report I read about Zhineng Qigong that had almost miraculous results in treating diseases as well as bringing harmony to ones life. I made lots of research on it, read several books, contacted many sources mostly in China, and finaly started practicing it everyday. Now it is a part of my everyday life.

At first, I gave a brief information to our group about Zhineng Qigong and the Qi theory. I then guided them on how to do the movements and what to think while doing them. In fact, in Zhineng Qigong what you think while doing the movements is more important than the movements themselves. That is why it is such an effective meditation method.

I was pleasantly surprised that it drew a lot of interest. Even one of our participants who came to our meeting thinking that I was organising something on “nano technology” (I really do not know how he heard this??) said he enjoyed it very much. I hope he was sincere 🙂

The wheather was beautiful, we were on green grass and had a wonderful sea view. I felt quite lucky indeed. After we finished with qigong, we proceeded to have some food together. We even had a second tour of Zhineng Qigong for the one who joined us late.

I hope that this brief introduction on Zhineng Qigong would create desire in our participants to learn more and to use it more in their lives. Because I know, as I have been practicing it regularly since 1,5 years, it really makes a difference.

Like this:

THIS ACTIVITY IS POSTPONED! New dates will be informed! *********************************************************************

Hello dear Curious Souls :-))

I know I was silent for a very long time. I apologize for it. Yet I was busy making lots of changes in my life; a new home, a new office, a new business, and lots of new plans still ahead! So I had very little spare time to devote on the organisation of Curious Souls. Taking into account the difficulty I face to find a suitable venue, free of charge, for our classical meetings, I am still discouraged! (if you can assist, please contact me). Yet, I missed spending time with you all.

So, despite that this is a last minute organisation, I want to invite you to join me for a relaxed day out on the Caddebostan seashore to catch up. if you are free and nothing already planned for tomorrow morning, please do come! We can linger on the green picnic area right in front of the Tenis Cafe (next to Zanzibar Cafe). You can bring something to spread on the grass or your picnic chairs. I talked with Tennis Cafe and they said they could serve us food and drinks-even beer and wine if we wanted!

I also thought that, you, the Curious Souls may like to learn about something new that I discovered last year in May and made a part of my life since then 🙂 It is called Zhineng Qigong! It is a moving type of meditation-very similar to Tai Chi but with slower movements. I am in no way an expert of it, but I can share with you what I learned. So those of you who would like to learn, can join me for Zhineng Qigong and the rest can linger on the grass, walk around, ride a bike, etc. Zhineng Qigong normally lasts about half an hour for me but with the explanations, most probably it will take more tomorrow. Please check out the following video of an actress in New York that profits immensely from Zhineng Qigong:

To make things easier for the ones who may hesitate on how to find the exact picnic area, I propose to meet in front of Caddebostan Migros at 10.00 am. We can walk together and then start ZQ at 10:30 at the venue. Those of you who wish to join us after 10.00 am should come directly to the picnic area.

So, have a nice day everybody and see you tomorrow.
Isil the Curious Soul 🙂